Refrigerator cabinet construction



NV 19, 1958 W. P. GOBEILLE 3,411,657

REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION Filed Oct. 10, 1966' INVENTOR. )wu/4N P 40u/4.5

United States Patent C 3,411,657 REFRIGERATOR CABINET CONSTRUCTION William P. Gobeille, Farmington, Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Kelvinator, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 10, 1966, Ser. No. 585,477 2 Claims. (Cl. 22d-9) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLDSURE A refrigerator cabinet construction for containing the plastic insulation during the foaming process from seepage through the interconnection of the terminable ends of the inner and outer shells by assembling therewith a resilient sealing member extending therealong and having ribs biased therebetween for a lluid tight seal connection.

This invention relates to refrigerators and more particularly to refrigerator cabinet construction.

In the manufacture of a refrigerator cabinet wherein a liquid foam, such as polyurethane or the like, is expanded to become insulation material in the space between the inner and outer walls, it has become a problem to interconnect the walls to prevent the expanding foam material from -seeping through or around the interconnection to the exterior surface of the cabinet from which surface the undesirable foamed insulation material is dicult to remove. The dilliculty arises in that during the period of the foaming the cabinet is enclosed and locked in a mold and is not removed until the insulation has set. Consequently if any seepage occurred it likewise had suiciently set and sutliciently bonded to the exterior surface to make the removal laborious and costly. It is highly desirable to prevent this seepage and it is an object o-f the present invention to provide a new and improved fluid tight sealing arrangement between the inner and outer walls at their interconnection.

Another object of the present invention is to provide in a refrigerator cabinet at the interconnection between the inner and outer walls, a sealing member secured in sealing relation to one wall and resiliently extended for fluid tight sealing engagement with the other wall.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sealing member arranged and positioned at the interconnection between the inner and outer walls whereby the pressure of the expanding foam insulation co-acts with the sealing member to increase its pressure engagement with the walls.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fluid tight sealing engagement at the interconnection between the inner and outer walls with free movement for the ends of said walls relative to each other as effected by expansion or contraction of said walls.

The above and other objects of the invention will appear from the following detailed description and from the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational View of a refrigerator with a door partly broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section in perspective of the sealing member.

FCice tween which is interposed a suitable foam type heat insulation material 24 as will be explained. The inner liner or shell 22 forms the Walls 0f the food storage compartment 12.

The outer casing 20 has its front marginal edge bent at right angles to form rst the front wall 16 of the cabinet, thereafter the extended metal is doubled upon itself to form the front wall of double thickness as well as the sides a short depth from the front wall whence the metal is bent at right angles to extend inwardly from the side wall in spaced parallel relation to the front wall, as at 29, forming a channel or pocket 30. The pocket 30 extends peripherally about the access opening 14 along the vertical sides and in cross members 32, 34 along the top and bottom respectively. The cross members 32, 34 are welded to and form an integral part of the outer casing 20.

The liner 22 is preferably molded of plastic material. In the drawing the liner 22 is shown as terminating a short distance from the front wall to be continued by a connecting member or breaker strip 40 for interconnection with the casing. It will be obvious that the parts 22, 40 may, if desired, be a single integrally molded structure. However, if the liner 22 is of metal structure a breaker strip interconnection as shown is desirable.

One end of the breaker strip 40 is attached and sealed by adhesive tape 42 to the terminated end of the liner 22. The other end of the breaker strip is formed or bent to provide a marginal end section 44 inserted into the pocket 30.

Prior to the insertion of the end 44 into the pocket 30 a sealing member 50 is attached thereto.

The sealing member 50 is preferably molded of suitable plastic materia-l, as vinyl or the like, in a U-shaped form having spaced sides S4, 55 interconnected by a wall 56 to form an open end pocket 57. The sealing member 50 is attached to the breaker strip 40 by receiving the edge section 44 in the pocket 57 and the side 54 being bonded to the adjacent surface of the breaker strip by suitable cement or adhesive 59.

Extending perpendicular-ly outwardly from the wall 54 and formed integrally therewith are ribs 60, 61, 62. Though three ribs are presently shown and described it will be obvious that the number may be less or more as desired. The ribs are arranged in spaced apart parallel relation and extend longitudinally along the sealing member.

The ribs 60, 61, 62 are pliable to allow bending or deforming from their molded perpendicular position, see FIG. 3, towards the plane of the wall 54. It is essential that the ribs assume an angular or inclined position with the side 54 upon contact with the adjacent wall 29 of the pocket 30 as will be more fully explained. To insure this angular position each rib is so formed to extend outwardly a distance from the surface of the side 54 to add sucient dimension to the seal assembly so that it is greater in width than that `of the pocket 30 to insure that a crowding or compressing is had as the assembly enters the pocket. The entrance into the pocket forces a bending or deforming of each rib to the described angular position. Each rib forms with the side 54 a wedge shaped pocket 70 that has its open end facing towards the open end of the pocket 30 for communication therewith. The free end of each rib compresses against the wall 29 providing a sealing engagement therewith.

Liquid foam material, such as polyurethane or the like, is poured 'into the space between the liner and outer shell. As this liquid foam material expands to form the heat insulation material 24 the expending foam material will seek and enter through the open end of the pocket 30. By the angular position of the ribs and the formation of the wedge shaped pocket the pressure exerted by the expanding foam will coact with the ribs resiliency to effectively pressure the rib into a tighter fluid sealing engagement with the wall 29 and effectively dam the ow.

The rib 60 should normally be effective to fully dam the ow except that because of surface irregularities of the pocket, irregularities or occurrences of wrinkling in the rib, a uniform sealing along the entire longitudinal length is not always had. Adding the ribs 61, 62 to assume identical positions in spaced parallel relation to the rib 60 guards and dams any seepage from further travel. The ribs 61 and 62 are arranged to assume and function in like manner as explained for the rib 60.

As the pressure of the foaming material enters the pocket or pockets 70, it will react therein to pressure the rib section upwardly and the side section 54 downwardly to so pressure the marginal end 44 to compress the side 55 into uid sealing engagement against the front wall 16. By this arrangement should any seepage get beyond the ribs into the rear of the pocket 30 it will be contained therein.

The spacing or interstices arranged by the spaced apart ribs 60, 6l, 62 also serves for the entering seepage to form its own dam. That is, as the foam seeps beyond the rib it will be subjected to a release of pressure and this change in pressure will increase its foaming action to such a degree as to accelerate its hardening or setting. The hardened seepage will cooperatively form with the ribs a blockage against further seepage.

As the inner and outer walls are generally formed of different materials, the present sealing arrangement in interconnecting their ends permits the ends to move in relative freedom in response to heat expansion or contraction. The foam insulation strongly bonds itself to the walls but will not form any effectual bonding relationship with the sealing member S so that the ends are free to move relative to each other. This is highly desirable for t e inner wall when molded of plastic material which becomes adjacent and about the corner section 60 susceptible to rupture or crack if the stresses created by expansion or contraction are not relieved by a free movement for the end 44.

A trim moulding 75 is secured to the front face of the breaker strip to conceal the gap about the edge of the front wall 16 caused by the thickness of the side 55 between the breaker strip and wall 16.

Although the invention has been illustrated in its preferred form and that form described in detail, it Will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modiflcations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A refrigerator cabinet having inner and outer spaced apart shells, said outer shell having a channel extending longitudinally along its terminal edge and opening transversely inwardly from said outer shell, said inner shell being extended by means of a breaker strip and having its free marginal edge section received in said channel spaced from the sides thereof, foam insulation material expanded to fill the space between said shells, and means sealing said marginal edge with the walls of said channel in fluid tight engagement comprising:

a sealing member of resilient material covering the opposite faces of said marginal edge along its longituidnal length and having one portion thereof compressed by Said marginal edge in sealing engagement against the outermost Wall of said channel;

a plurality of spaced apart ribs formed integrally with another portion of said sealing member and extending longitudinally thereof with each of said ribs being preformed with parallel sides extending from said integrally formed portion;

said ribs each extending into uid sealing relation with the innermost wall of said pocket and being deformed by contact with said wall in a direction such that when contacted by the expanding foam insulation they were biased into a tighter sealing engagement with said wall and thereby effecting a further compression of said first mentioned portion of said sealin g member.

2. A refrigerator cabinet as set forth in claim 1, in-

cluding an adhesive means for bonding at least one of said portions of said sealing member to said marginal edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,604,375 7/1952 Beckett 312-214 X 2,789,720 4/1957 Palmer 220-9 3,078,003 2/1963 Kesling 220-9 3,142,405 7/1964 Johnson 220-9 3,338,451 8/1967 Kesling 220-9 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,03 8,499 8/1966 Great Britain.

THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

I AMES R. GARRETT, Assistant Brandner. 

